Improvement in reverberatory furnaces



G. ATKINS.

I Reverberatory Furnaces. NC). 136,017. V Fa tented Fe b.18,1873.

AM PHOT0-U77l06RAPH/E on M). (osoms'smacsss) UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

GEORGE ATKINS, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVERBERA'l'ORY FURNACES.'

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 136,017, dated February18, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE ATKINS, of Youngstown, in the county ofMahoning and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useture of iron andsteel, and has for its objectsuch'a construction of the fuel, feed, andfire box that the gases generated will be entirely consumed and the fuelused to the greatest ad vantage. v

The conditions necessary to perfect combustion are that there should besufficient oxygen present to complete the combustion and that thecarbonic oxide should be brought to a high heat before its union withthe oxygen.

In furnaces of the above-named class, as ordinarily constructed, a largeportion of the carbonic oxide given off by the fuel passes over thebridge-wall and escapes unconsumed, for

the reason that the conditions necessary to a thorough combustion oroxidation do not exist. To overcome this universally-recognizeddifficulty several modes havebeen adopted-as, for instance, theintroduction of air, hot or cold,

through the fire-bridge and through the'arch over the fire-bridge, tooxidize the escaping products. Vertical fire-boxes have been constructedfed from above, so that when fresh fuel was added on top of the fuelalready ignited the gases generated were made to pass downward throughthe hot fuel, air being supplied at the point where combustion was totake place generally, as above stated, at points in or nearthefire-bridge and in such constructions air has been allowed to enter,or blasts have been used at pleasure, directed from above the fueldownward, to carry down the gas generated from thefresh fuel through theincandescent fuel beneath. In other cases the firebox has been dividedby a partition wall dependent from the crown of the furnace at a pointequidistant from thefire-bridge and end wall, and descending to a pointeven with or a little below the fire-bridge, forming a fuel and cookingchamber between the said partitionwall and the end of the furnace.

The first-stated construction does not fulfill the requirementsnecessary to perfect combustion. The second does to a certain extent,but the ash-pit being closed so that no air enters necessitates theintroduction of air at or near the fire-bridge. The third, from theconstruction of the pendent partition, lacks durability, not being ableto withstand the intense heat to which it is subjected, and from theform of the coking-chamber it cannot act as a self-feeder.

My invention consists in afurnace provided with a vertical closedfeed-chamber extending above the crown of the furnace, and so arrangedrelatively to the grate and fire-bridge that the feed will becontinuous, and the gasesgenerated from the fresh fuel will be compelledto traverse the incandescent fuel and become highly heated beforeignition, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal verticalsection of afurnace embodying my invention, the section being taken onthe line as w of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section.

Like letters refer to like parts.

A is the'furnace. B represents the grates; C, the elevated fuel-chamber;D, the fuel-door; E, the bridge-wall F, the heating or pud'dlin'g floor;Gr, the door for introducing the iron, or a working-door, if the hearthbe made for puddling. The hearth or floorF will be constructed,according to the object for which it is intended, either as a reheatingor puddlin g hearth. The description will be confined to thefuel-chainber, fire-box, &c., their construction and arrangement beingthe points of invention. The fuelchamber O is a vertical chamberelevated above the crown I of the furnace, three of its walls t'he endand two side walls-being continuous with the wall of the furnace proper,the fourth or inner end wall 0 rising from the crown I of the furnace ina line directly over the foundation-wall B which supports the inner endof grate B. The fire-bridge Eis placed in advance of the foundation-wallB and wall 0 of the feed-chamber 0, so as to forma shelf or ledge, E,upon which the incandescent fuel may rest. The end wall of the furnaceand i'uel chamber (J may be pierced by openings J for the introductionof a blast, if desired; but

I prefer to work without a blast.

The operation of the furnace is as follows: Thefuel. is charged into thedoor D until the fuel upon the grate.

chamber is filled up to dotted line it t, or to any point between thatline and the lower edge of the door, the main point being that it shallrise above the line of the crown I and close the chamber 0. The fuelwill naturally feed down from a slope represented by the dotted line (I(1, extending from the fire-bridge to the crown of the furnace. Thatportion of the fuel lying above the grate in the line of the draft, or,in other words, within the space bounded by dotted lines 6 e and d cl,will become incandescent while the remainder of the fuel will coke orgive off carbonic oxide. The gases generated, finding no outlet bychamber (J, are drawn by the draft of the furnace through the burningThis operation may be assisted and additional air furnished by a blastintroduced through the lower openings J, if

desired, but this is not necessary to the work ing of my invention, asenough air will enter through the ash-pit and grate for the completecombustion of the carbonic oxide at the high heat it h LS reached inpassing through the incandescent fuel.

described.

GEORGE ATKINS. lVitnesses:

T. B. MOSHER,

ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

